79 Chief Golden Eagle

[Granny]

Steve, I like your style of going through everything to make sure, as best you can, you don't find yourself siting on the side of the road broke down!

I just had to quote ole Grumpy's comment and reword... Steve, I like your style of needing a part and somewhere on a shelf, on another vehicle, maybe even in a chicken house, as best you can, you don't find yourself sitting in the parking lot of the local parts store. That's just plain spooky!

Nice work my friend!

 

[89wrangler]

Welp, sector shaft was pouring fluid, like all of it when I filled it up and started it. So I ran out and grabbed the one off the parts chief in between rain showers on Saturday figuring it was a good day to swap it. Pretty straight forward. 4bolts on box, 2bolts on steering shaft ,2 hoses and drag link. We good to go again now again!
Old new one

removing leaking greasy one

all buttoned up with replacement.

 

[XJsavage]

I dig it.

 

[89wrangler]

Drove the chief to granite falls on Saturday to pick up a washer off here for the basement. On the way back stopped at Rural King to get two batteries for the 7.3 that gave up the ghost after 7years. got back in the chief and had damn exhaust leak under the hood! Must of been that 70mph run down the interstate lol. Got home and found some of the old smog crap on the exhaust was shot. Pulled it off, cut off the tubes, welded up the holes and now no leaks!

 

[89wrangler]

Welp, back up the the top. Things were going good with the old chief when all of the sudden back in Aug of ’21 it started running like crap one day. Felt like it’s was running on 6 cylinder. Checked pug wires, changed plugs, still nothing. played with timing and no help. Figured may have valve issues and didn’t have time to mess with it anymore so it went into the shed. So yesterday it was time to try and get it back on the road.
I have a built 360 setting the shop from years back with less than 1000 miles on it waiting for a home, so I figured this would be a good home for it and get it out of the shop to free up some space. So I drug it out, took accessories off, pulled plugs and added some mystery oil to them, pulled valve covers and distributor and ran the oil pump to make sure all was still good, then turned engine over by hand and all seemed great. Ordered valve cover gaskets, new water neck, Tstat, gasket and oil and filter. I also have a Howell TBI set up to go on it from another project. It has an MSD distributor set up, but going to order HEI for simplicity.
covered with dirt and dust

pulled valve covers and nice and clean

pumping oil

cleaned valve covers for the hell of it..lol

I was still bugging me as to what is wrong, so I decided to do a compression test. To my surprise, all cylinders were between 130 and 140 psi. That ruled out valve issues. Then for shits and giggles I checked timing and it was way off? So I reset it to top dead center thinking I found the issue. Tried to start and nothing but a backfire. Leads me to believe the cam gear is bad and not letting the timing to be set. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know.

Going to start pulling engine today. Let the fun begin.

 

[89wrangler]

Well, not one give up, I went out and still scratching my head as to why it would not run. Pulled the distributor and check the cam gear and it was fine. So I looked at the spark control box and it was leaking plastic sticky shit all over the place. So I pulled it off and wow! That could definitely be part of the problem. So, as we do, went to the parts shelf and grabbed another one I had. Cleaned all the sticky crap off, put some electrical grease on the plugs and installed it. What do you know, it started! At least it is running on all cylinders now! I am now convinced the balance of the issue is the Motorcraft Carb that is 43 years old. So tomorrow I will install a new carb (Amazon will absolutely spoil you) and hopefully be back on the road. If all goes as planned, the extra 360 will continue to wait.

mess from the spark module

no wonder….that should be a solid plastic covering

New module

 

[justjeepin86]

That sure beats swapping a motor!

 

[89wrangler]

That sure beats swapping a motor!

Yes, you are correct! But it sure would be nice to hear that cam loping in the other one. Lol

Carb off waiting on new one to arrive tomorrow.

 

[Jody Treadway]

That sure beats swapping a motor!

A loping AMC V8 is a beautiful thing.

 

[orange150]

Hey uhh.. I've got something I could put that motor in... just saying...

 

[89wrangler]

Didn’t get a chance to put carb on last night due to work and Zoom meetings, but carb is here! A new carb was only $40 more than a rebuild kit. On top of that, me and carb rebuilding do not have a great track record.

 

[AdamH]

A loping AMC V8 is a beautiful thing.

Agreed however my neighbors get tired of it. I need new neighbors

 

[89wrangler]

Well, she is running again! Fired right up, adjusted the timing some and sounds good. Shut it off a couple of times and fired right back up and idled smoothly. Hell I may be up to 10mpg now! Picking up a couple of pieces of vacuum hose this evening and Going to install some new valve cover gaskets this weekend.

 

[baggednissan]

Hurry up and cover up that shiny stuff before the rest of it gets jealous.

 

[89wrangler]

It is covered up with old air breather. All good now.

 

[89wrangler]

Figured I would update this thread on the Chief. Motor was running good and then it started getting a pretty loud ticking after it warmed up good. I assume it was a lifter that was going south. So as I was going to do earlier, it is engine swap time.
The new engine was built by a guy in Asheville some years back. .30 over, some head work done, balanced, cam, rear oiling mod, performer intake, the basic stuff. Engine has about 400 miles on it since rebuilt. I got it from a buddy who had it rebuilt, put in his CJ, rolled it at the flats and lost interest. Will be running a MSD distributor, MSD 6A, MSD wires and Blaster coil.
The start of the removal

Some more

Out with the old

Old out

 

[89wrangler]

Engine out, pulled Chief outside and power washed engine bay to get most of the crud out of it.

Putting new valve cover gaskets on motor

Damn glued on gaskets. An hour and heat fun to get them clean.

One wire alternator on and lined up

Removed the old spark box and related wiring since I will be using a MSD system

 

[89wrangler]

The batter tray was really rusted and in bad shape. Removed tray and cleaned up the rust in the area and put some paint on it. Went out to the parts Chief and got the battery tray out of it, cleaned and painted it. Good as new now

New engine going in. But wait! Forgot to remove crank bushing from the old manual transmission! Them realized the auto trans bushing was still In old motor which was on the stand. Had to put new engine back on stand, take old engine off its stand to
remove bushing, then put it back on and put new engine back on lift to install auto bushing. After all of that it was ready to go in

Let me tell you it SUCKS putting a motor in by yourself! A second set of hands would have saved me at least an hour. Old age doesn’t help anything either. But, engine is in, finally!!

Stay tuned for the start up.

 

[rodney eppes]

Let me tell you it SUCKS putting a motor in by yourself! A second set of hands would have saved me at least an hour. Old age doesn’t help anything either. But, engine is in, finally!!

Tell Me about it! I've done it Twice, now. And didn't have the engine leveler. OMG! Have you had a chance to see how the counterfeit Motorcraft carb runs? The prices make you drool, but my Old MC carb is running fine.

 

[89wrangler]

Tell Me about it! I've done it Twice, now. And didn't have the engine leveler. OMG! Have you had a chance to see how the counterfeit Motorcraft carb runs? The prices make you drool, but my Old MC carb is running fine.

It seemed to work fine. It would start right up, idle good and throttle response was great.

 

[Caver Dave]

It seemed to work fine. It would start right up, idle good and throttle response was great.

So, gonna adapt down to 2V or swapping on a 4V?

 

[89wrangler]

So, gonna adapt down to 2V or swapping on a 4V?

Short term I am adapting down to the 2V. Once everything is dialed in a buttoned up (wiring, radiator, fluids, exhaust) , I am going to install a Howell fuel injection kit that is taking up space on the shelve.

 

[rodney eppes]

Drove the chief to granite falls on Saturday to pick up a washer off here for the basement. On the way back stopped at Rural King to get two batteries for the 7.3 that gave up the ghost after 7years. got back in the chief and had damn exhaust leak under the hood! Must of been that 70mph run down the interstate lol. Got home and found some of the old smog crap on the exhaust was shot. Pulled it off, cut off the tubes, welded up the holes and now no leaks!
View attachment 329775
View attachment 329776
View attachment 329777
View attachment 329778

Just made me think, I still have 1 of those tube things. Looks in good shape, but Hard to imagine anyone wanting it. Except California!

 

[89wrangler]

Finished up most of the install yesterday. Got the wiring sorted out and sleeved up. Carb installed. Had to replace the low pressure line on the power steering pump. Went to install it and the line was so brittle it just broke. This led to immediately emptying the power steering fluid onto the floor. Also found the shifter linkage bushing was dislodge, so removed and repaired. Went to start it and had distributor 180 degrees out of course. With that corrected, engine fired up! I am still waiting on my $2 Tstat housing gasket to show up so I can install the housing, hook up hoses and add water.
New motor mounts

Linkage cleanup and repair

Motor in and it fired up

 

[Caver Dave]

Also found the shifter linkage bushing was dislodge, so removed and repaired.

After 20+ years of factory linkage wonkiness (binding when even slightly twisted ), converting to a cable ranks way up on the "best'est thing ever" list